4-Year-Old Boy Forced To Live With Rats And Roaches In Meth House Closet Rescued, Police Say

CBS Local — A four-year-old boy, who told police his only friends were the rats and roaches who visited him, has been rescued from a Texas meth house where he was being held captive.

Harris County Precinct 5 officials say the child was found living in a closet of the Houston-area home, which was raided by police after receiving a tip about drugs being made and sold there.

“This is a four-year-old child who has seen things an adult should not have seen,” attorney Rachel Leal-Hudson said, via The Dallas Morning News.

According to the officers who raided the home in mid-December, large amounts of meth and marijuana were found around the house. The “horrible” smelling residence was also reportedly filled with rat feces as well as drug and sex paraphernalia, which was only a few feet from the closet the boy was locked inside.

Jeff McShan of the Harris County constable’s office announced in a Facebook video that the boy’s mother, who was not home during the raid, was later arrested and charged with child endangerment. The alleged drug dealer, identified as Daniel Clark Morris III, is still at large.

The four-year-old was also checked out by doctors who reportedly found that the child’s system had been exposed to meth. He is now in the care of Child Protective Services as the boy’s father attempts to gain custody of his son.